Romney's Pollster Weighs In On '08er's Religion

December 5, 2006

ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: The topic of religion -- and whether the United States would elect a Mormon president -- came up during a Thursday panel discussion sponsored by The Hotline and the University of Virginia on the 2008 Republican presidential candidates.

Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) was represented on the panel by his pollster, Jan van Lohuizen, who said that the polling on whether Americans would never vote for a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is "really mixed."

"Some people say it's a problem to more than 40%," said Van Lohuizen. â€œOther people say 20%."

He noted, however, that those numbers rest on the assumption that someone's choice for president comes down to "this and only this."

"Okay, we're not going to run on the Mormon ticket," said Van Lohuizen. "We got it."